


In Loving Memory of Your Heart

by squidballsinc



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Asano's Mom Raises Shuu AU, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I was trying to keep it gen but then the ship took me, I'm keeping the tags as ambiguous as I can, M/M, Major Character Death is just Korosensei, Nothing explicit, Original Female Character is just Shuu's mom, The Author Regrets Nothing, gakushuu goes on a adventure, ~the fic~
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidballsinc/pseuds/squidballsinc
Summary: "“I’ve decided what I want to do.” He announced.“I want to find out who’s heart I was given. I want to thank them-- or the memory of them I guess… It only feels right… with the new life they’ve given me, it only feels right to honor the life of the one that’s saved mine...”"- - -Or! The Gakushuu-needs-a-heart-transplant-and-gets-one-then-sets-out-to-find-out-who's-heart-he-has the fic! I don't have a good way to describe it but give it a chance if you want!
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Asano Gakushuu, Asano Gakushuu & Original Female Character
Comments: 5
Kudos: 48





	In Loving Memory of Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this all in one sitting so if you see any mistakes please tell me! i have nothing else to say cause i still have to format it after i finish writing this note so yeah enjoy!

“ _The diagnosis we have come up with is arrhythmia._ ”

One year ago, those words had shattered his and his mother’s small world. 

A year later, in what was supposed to be his final year of many things (of middle school, of being on the soccer team, of seeing his snobby classmates, of _life_ -), he heard a new set of words;

“- _We’ve just received and anonymous donation, it’s a match--_ ”

And all at once the world had returned to him with new meaning.

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
“Isn’t it great Gakushuu?” His mother (Mei Arai) chimed as he took his first full step outside in an entire year, “Now that you’re released you can do whatever you want! School’s already over so that can’t hold you back, I know you were studying in the hospital by the way young man!”

She pouted as she whirled on him, “The doctor said not to do anything that could stress out your body too much!”

“Sorry…” He sheepishly replied, “It’s just that they’re wasn’t any way to watch the news, and one of the nurses was kind enough to bring me some books when I requested them…”

His mother huffed, “Still… well alright! Oh wait speaking of the news! A lot has happened since you got into the hospital-- don’t look at me like that it’s true!”

Gakushuu shook his head, his mother had a tendency to over exaggerate, but let her continue, “We’ll have to catch you up! And you have to accept your graduation certificate!”

“Wait what?”

“You can’t fool the keen eyes of your teachers Shuu. They could tell that you were learning things ahead of the material, and when I told them that you had wanted to continue your studies while in the hospital they decided that you can just take the finals when you got out to see if you could graduate--”

“‘When’? Mother--”

“ _\--Mom-_ -”

“We didn’t know if I was going to make it, we didn’t _think_ I was going to make it.”

His mother looked down, sorrow lingering in her eyes, “ _Don’t say that Shuu_. We held on to hope until the very end and it all paid off! Just look at us now, walking out of that dinky old hospital in pursuit of a bright future all thanks to that anonymous donation!”

_An anonymous donation huh? Normally hospitals wouldn’t take such a thing, but mother and I have never been in the best place financially-- so the hospital wasn’t exactly up to code, but still… Who would ever even attempt such a thing?_

“Oh look at the time!” He snapped back to attention, “That show I was telling you about is going to start soon! Hurry hurry!”

Later, when he got back home, his mother had filled him in on all the news he was unaware of. The moon exploding, a tentacle monster, a class of assassins, all of it only made slightly believable by the _numerous_ articles covering every inch of the subject that the reporters could breach.

And as he and his mother sat on the couch that afternoon, watching the (admittedly) very bad K-drama his mother forced him to watch, she turned to him, “I meant what I said earlier, when you got out of the hospital.”

At his confused look she elaborated, “When I said you can do whatever you wanted. High school starts up in a month--(and I know you are going to pass that test mister, don’t argue with me!)--and since you’re still under recovery you don’t have to attend the rest of your classes. You’re a smart boy, I’m sure you’ve already decided to cover the rest of the subjects for your entire year when you didn’t have to.”

She sighed, turning around to properly face him, “What I’m saying is that you can do anything you want for the time in between. I’ve already arranged for you to take the test in 2 days, leaving the next 29 days completely free for whatever you want. I won’t stop you and I won’t come with you unless you want me to but please, I just want you to enjoy the time you have right now. If you think of something come to me yeah?”

When she had received his (hesitant) nod she stood, turning off the tv, “It’s getting pretty late so we should stop for today. Goodnight Shuu, I love you.”

“...I love you too.”

Smiling, she left, leaving Gakushuu to turn off the lights as he went to his room.

_Something I want to do huh?_

He sat there on his bed pondering, _I would like to study some more I guess? But I only have to take that test in a few days, and the people at school are all snobby rich kids…_

He thought back to his mother, her encouraging him when he wanted to get into soccer. Her holding his hand as he learned to ride a bike. Her laughing at his inability to cook. Her fondly recounting the first time she ever saw his bright, violet, beautiful (-- _demonic_ \--) eyes. 

And he remembered the look on her face the first time he told her “I love you”, and how she’d laughed when he started freaking out because he thought that the tears building in her eyes was because he had made her _cry_ \--

 _And I want those moments to last forever._ He realized.

_I want to remember those moments that make me happy, I want to learn from the ones that made me sad, I want to make more memories with mother and--_

_And--_

_And I want to_ **live**.

 _And now I can_ , The thought came to him before he could stop it, _with this new life--new heart--I have been given. I can_ **live**.

He wanted to thank whoever gave it to him.

_He wanted to at least honor what was left of their memory._

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
The next morning he stood in front of his mother, hand clutching the fabric of his shirt right about his _heart_ , “I’ve decided what I want to do.” He announced.

His mother’s eyebrows shot up, putting her mug down, she gave him a prompting look.

“I want to find out who’s heart I was given. I want to thank them-- or the memory of them I guess… It only feels right… with the new life they’ve given me, it only feels right to honor the life of the one that’s saved mine...”

She sat there blankly, not reacting in the slightest besides the contemplating look on her face, he clutched his shirt tighter, _Is she going to say n--_

“Ok then you better start packing!”

He blinked at her as she continued, “The doctors had said that the package had come with first class shipping from a place called _Kunigaoka_ or something, I looked it up and it’s only a train ride away from here.” She turned to him with an encouraging, “If it’s my Shuu then I just know that you’ll be able to find them! I’ll arrange for tickets to and from there for your break, so you better start packing mister!”

And as his vice grip on his shirt loosened he smiled, feeling more confident in his idea than he had in the whole 10 hours since he had thought of it, “Ok!”

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
The test was (predictably) easy, so in 2 days he had boarded a train, headed for a city he had only heard of from the news, and on his way to find out who the dead person his new heart belonged to was.

After unpacking in his hotel room, his first order of business was to figure out the lay of the land. Using some of the money his mother had given him he bought a map from a small tourist shop and spent the first few days going around town. Once that was completed, he spent his 4th day gathering information.

The excursion was largely unsuccessful, which was unsurprising since 1. The anonymous donation of a _human heart_ was quite unthinkable and 2. No one who anonymously donates a _**human heart**_ would willingly admit that it was them in public.

So by the time lunch rolled around he decided to stop at a nearby fast food joint to grab some food, and while fast food wasn’t normally his cup of tea, he felt like he deserved it after all the walking he did.

So he went in, ordered his food, and sat at the only empty seat in the establishment. Which just so happened to be at the public counter table next to a stern man with spiky black hair. Making sure to not make eye contact, he started to eat his food.

“Haven’t seen you around here kid, you look bad are you okay?”

Gakushuu startled, almost dropping his food, “A-ah yes well-- I had surgery done not too long ago so that probably explains why I look awful. I’m actually in town for some personal business.”

“Oh?”

“I’m trying to find someone. Or more specifically, find someone to find someone.”

That seemed to confuse the man, “Find someone to find someone? You mean like hiring an investigator?”

“No no nothing like that, I guess I worded that badly. You see, someone had ‘donated’ a heart to a hospital in Tokyo. That heart seemed to have the strangest compatibility with any and all patients that might have needed it, almost as if it could change to fit any person. I have decided to take on a task to find out who the owner of that heart was. That’s why, if I find out who sent the heart, I will be able to learn who owned the heart.”

“That-... Is quite the tale.” The man sighed, “Legally hospitals can’t accept random organs, but I guess that the hospital you’re talking about either had low morals or was exceedingly desperate. Either way… the person who sent the heart might be a dangerous individual if they had managed to come into possession of such a thing…”

He sighed again, before standing up and pulling something out of his pocket, handing it over to Gakushuu, “I work for the government so it’s only my duty to look into such a potentially dangerous person. My name is Tadaomi Karasuma, here’s my card.”

Hurrying to accept it, Gakushuu stood up and shook his hand, “And my name is Gakushuu Arai, please just call me Gakushuu.”

Karasuma nodded, looking at his watch before cleaning up his ‘meal’, “I have to go. I’ll alert you if anything comes up.”

Gakushuu nodded, “I look forward to working with you.”

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
A few days had passed, with Gakushuu largely being unable to find any more information. He and Karasuma had exchanged a few messages after that, but sadly he didn’t have much information either.

 **Gakushuu** : Still nothing to be found around town.

 **Karasuma** : I see, nothing on my end either.

 **Gakushuu** : Well this is concerning.

 **Karasuma** : My unit doesn’t have anything to do with medical research, none of my connections have ever heard of a “heart that could fit any patient” either.

 **Gakushuu** : It seems that we are at a dead end at this point.

 **Gakushuu** : Are you sure there isn’t anyone in town that might know something? Someone who might know the ins and outs of the place?

 **Karasuma** : …

 **Gakushuu** : ...i don’t trust that “...”

 **Karasuma** : Well there is one person that seems to have his hands in the entire place… But I’m not sure if it’s worth getting him involved…

 **Gakushuu** : Please Mr. Karasuma, any lead may help.

 **Karasuma** : ...Fine

 **Karasuma** : Talk to Kunigaoka Junior High’s former principal, Gakuhou Asano.

 **Gakushuu** : Thank you I will do that if you set up a meeting?

 **Karasuma** : Alright…

The next day Karasuma had arranged a meeting as promised at, strangely, the principal’s own house. Knocking on the door, it had only just then come back to him the Kunigaoka was the school the news was all over, when the door opened.

Both of them flinched, taking in the other’s _violet_ eyes, shock painting both their faces clear as day.

Gakushuu (thankfully) managed to get his wits about him first, and introduced himself, “Hello, I am Gakushuu Arai. I’m sure Karasuma had alerted you of my coming?”

“Y-yes he did.” The principal composed himself, “I am Gakuhou Asano, please come in.”

Walking in the house was just as pristine as he had expected from a millionaire.

“Please have a seat.”

He sat on a couch that probably cost more than his entire living room and looked at the snacks decorating the table.

“Now, I heard you were looking for information?”

“Yes,” Gakushuu turned his attention back to the man, “you see, I am looking for the person who’s heart was anonymously donated to a hospital in Tokyo. However the heart donated had the peculiar ability to match up with any patient, almost as if the cells themselves could shapeshift. I’m sure Karasuma has filled you in on the details.”

“Hmm…” The principal (Gakuhou Asano, he reminded himself), “Well… perhaps… It would make sense… Karasuma _would_ never consider it…”

“What is it? Do you have a lead?” Gakushuu eagerly asked.

“...I have an idea. I require more time to look into it so I can’t tell you for now.”

“I… see…”

They sat there in awkward silence, until Gakushuu had asked a question that had plagued him since he had remembered it, “Why _did_ you let that so-called ‘tentacle monster’ teach at your old school?”

Asano sighed, “Many people had asked that… I suppose that it might require a bit of a history lesson.”

“I have the time.” Gakushuu replied, which wasn’t a lie since this really was the only lead he’s had for a while.

“Well… Alright.” He gave in.

“A while before Kunigaoka Junior High came to exist, I had a small cram school with only three students. I taught them everything I could, made sure they got into their chosen schools, and after that business had boomed. I didn’t have much time to keep up with them, until one day I got a call from one of them asking to meet up. I agreed immediately, but when I had got to his house I had learned that he had… he had committed sucicide…”

He took a moment to compose himself, taking a shaky sip of tea before continuing.

“From there my mentality deteriorated ‘if only I had taught him to be stronger’ I thought. That’s how I had developed the Kunigaoka class system, I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It was… not the best. No no, who am I kidding it wasn’t even good. Later on, the ‘tentacle monster’ came to me with a proposal to teach in my school. I wanted to use the money the government was paying me to build more, ‘so I could make them strong’ I thought, that’s why I accepted the offer. But now I realise that even after all those years my mind was still overcome with grief. You see, my wife had died in childbirth not too far before. So when… when my student… _died_ , I… couldn’t take it anymore. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to realise that I wasn’t fit to raise a child in such a state, so I sent my baby off for adoption…”

They sat there in silence, neither of them were dumb. They both knew what he was implying. Whatever happens next would depend solely on Gakushuu’s response, and Gakushuu… couldn’t turn down evidence that was staring him in the face.

“It’s strange, I happen to be adopted.”

Asano perked up, something akin to _hope_ in his eyes.

“At first nobody wanted me because of my… _unusual_ appearance... But eventually my mother, Mei Arai, decided to foster me, and even adopt me. I’m still not quite used to being called my new last name though, since I spent so long simply being called ‘Gakushuu’.”

“Then… it’s only fair that you call me Gakuhou, isn’t it?”

“...Yes I suppose it is. Thank you for allowing me, Gakuhou.”

They sat there in silence once again, neither of them knowing what to say next.

“Do you think…” Gakuhou started, looking oddly… nervous? “Do you think that if I were to reach out to my child, that they would accept me?”

“...I don’t think that they would reject you.”

Gakuhou smiled, “That’s… wonderful.”

He looked at the table (now relieved of all snacks) and then at the clock, “Oh would you look at the time. It seems we have run a bit late.” Standing up, he pulled out a card and slid it over to Gakushuu, “Here’s my card. I’ll contact you if I find anything, and if you’ll allow so, perhaps we can talk on occasion?”

Gakushuu accepted, “I look forward to it.”

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
Gakushuu (much to the surprise of everyone that knew him) knew when it was time for him to take a break. So he decided to spend the next day buying a gift for his mother. He had come across a stylish boutique on his first day that was well within his price range, so he decided to find her a dress from there.

Walking in, he was hit with the flaw in his plan that he was the only man in the store that wasn’t there because they were dragged along. So he made quick word of making his way over to some dresses that were his mother’s style.

Sadly, to his great chagrin, his presence wasn’t unnoticed. And a busty blond hair blue eyed woman decided to approach him.

“Oh~ho~ho~ what do we have here? It’s not typical to see someone so young in a place like this, buying a gift for a lovely lady perhaps?”

“Yes, my mother actually.” He replied bluntly.

The woman stood there for a minute with a dumb look on her face before snapping back to reality, “W-well I can help! Just show me a picture and I’ll help you pick out the best dress she’ll ever own!”

Gakushuu sighed, knowing that there was no stopping people like this, “Fine, may I know your name?”

“Why I am the one and only, Irina Jelavić!”

He nodded, “Gakushuu Arai. Please call me Gakushuu.”

Mrs. Jelavić paused for a moment before gasping, loudly, “You’re the kid Karasuma was complaining about!”

“You know Mr. Karasuma?”

“Well yeah duh!” Mrs. Jelavić leaned in, blinking seductively, “You think even him can resist wanting a piece of this?”

Gakushuu paused, thinking it over, “Oh, so that must mean you’re married then.”

It was honestly quite astounding how fast her face went red, quite like a volcano exploding. 

“W-W-W-W-W-wHat? M-M-M-M-mArried?!?”

“Ahh, was I wrong? Then you must be his girlfriend.”

Mrs. Jelavić calmed down, but was still flustered, “W-well I guess…”

“...He hasn’t talked about it had he?”

“How did you know??”

“He seems like he’s just that dense.”

“...well you’re not wrong.”

Gakuhou sighed, “Anyway weren’t you here to help me pick out a gift for my mother?”

“That’s right!” Mrs. Jelavić realised, “Show me a picture so I can have an image of what she’ll look good in. Then we’ll pick out the dress.”

He ended up leaving that boutique with three things that day; a dress for his mom, some jewelry Mrs. Jelavić said would look good on her, and a new (bitchy) phone number.

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
Later on in the week, Gakushuu had decided to get some fresh air. Since he had only just gotten out of the hospital before he had decided to go on this trip, he had spent a few days just lounging around while he waited on Karasuma and Gakuhou. But enough was enough, he was bored so he made his way down to a nearby park.

What he didn’t expect was to almost be hit by a ball as soon as he set foot inside. Thankfully, his reflexes weren’t completely gone and he managed to kick the ball away, which miraculously ended up falling into one of the soccer nets set up.

He and the group of people that were playing soccer stared at each other, before the one polite person ran up to him.

“I’m so sorry about that! It’s just that no one else really comes to this park so we weren’t expecting anyone to come! We sincerely apologize for our rude behavior and-”

“Don’t worry it’s fine.” Gakushuu cut the boy off.

“We’re still very sorry.”

“It’s fine really, I’m not going to press charges or anything over something as small as this.”

“That’s a relief…” The boy sighed, “If there’s anything we can do to make it up to you…”

Gakushuu sighed as one of the other boys came up beside the first one.

“Hey wait, that kick was sick! You managed to get it in from all the way over here! You gotta play with us!” The new boy enthusiastically shouted.

“Ah, I’m afraid I have to decline.” Gakushuu denied, “I’m not in a good condition to be playing right now you see.”

“Awww, that’s too bad.” The new boy deflated.

“Well, maybe if you don’t have anything else to do you can join us?” The first boy chimed in, “You can be a referee since Karma isn’t taking the role very seriously!”

Gakushuu almost winced at how much the boy seemed to glow with hope in his eyes, he sighed, giving in, “...Alright.”

“Great!”

The boys lead him over to their group before finally introducing themselves, “Oh right! I’m Yuma Isogai.” Said the first boy, prompting everyone else to follow.

“Tomohito Sugino!”

“Meg Kataoka.”

“Rio Nakamura~”

“Nagisa Shiota.” He pointed towards a nearby tree, where a red haired boy was playing some sort of game on his phone, “And that’s Karma.”

Gakushuu nodded, “I’m Gakushuu Arai, pleased to meet you. Please call me Gakushuu.”

“Ok everybody!” Isogai announced, “Let’s start up another round! Gakushuu can you referee from where Karma is?”

“Sure.” He replied walking over. As he sat down, they started to play.

“So~o who’re you?” Karma asked.

“Well, as I just said, my name is Gakushuu. And you’re Karma No-Last-Name I take it?”

Karma blink before laughing, “Riiiight riiight of course~ Well then! My name is Karma Lilith Beelzebub, a bringer of destruction that will create the apocalypse! You better watch your back there Shuu!”

“You do know that Lilith was Adam’s first wife don’t you?” Gakushuu deadpanned.

Karma almost doubled over, “Well may~be some people would prefer Adam over Eve huh~”

 _Do I want to do this?_ Gakushuu pondered, before looking over at the very annoying smile on Karma’s face, _oh what the hell--_ “Ah yes, like me.”

Karma stopped for a moment, before flushing a slight pinkish color.

_Huh, wasn’t expecting that… he even looks a little cute flustered..._

“K...ne”

“Huh? What was that?”

“My name’s Karma Akabane.”

“Nice to finally know your name.”

“Nice to finally know you’re gay.”

They stared at each other, neither of them willing to lose the intense staring contest that had spontaneously broken out, before Karma threw a leave in Gakushuu’s face out of nowhere. Causing him to blink.

“Wow, and here I thought you were flirting with me.” Gakushuu deadpanned, “It looks like I’ve been fatally injured. I cannot continue on like this, it seems as if I must return to my bed to recover from such a deadly wound.”

“What’re you suggesting there~” Karma teased, wiggling his eyebrows, “Take me out for a date first!”

“Well I’d need your number for that first wouldn’t I?”

Karma flushed, “...ok”

Pulling out their phones they exchanged numbers. The rest of the day continued on in similar fashion, with Gakushuu having to input on the game every now and again. But overall it wasn’t… unpleasant. Though when he looked at his phone again that night, he couldn’t help but wonder how his contact list had gotten so full…

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
He spent the next couple of days (surprisingly) hanging out with the group he had met. They even introduced him to the rest of their friend group (which for some reason was their entire class? Oh well he couldn’t judge).

Currently, he and Karma were sitting in a cafe drinking coffee over some cake.

“So what high school are you going to Shuu?”

“Hmmm… I haven’t actually put much thought into it…”

“Really?” Karma asked, genuinely confused, “You. The workaholic. Who has admitted to having wanted to spend the entire break studying. Not knowing what high school to go to?”

Gakushuu sighed, “Well I had some… troubling circumstances last year that made it so I couldn’t attend class. I wasn’t even sure I was going to be able to graduate, so I hadn’t gave it much thought.”

“Well then how about you go to Kunigaoka High?”

“What? You do know I live in Tokyo right?”

“Yeah yeah you’ve mentioned it already, but I’ve got a spare room in my house that you could take if you wanted to.”

“Your parent’s wouldn’t mind?”

A dark look crossed Karma’s face, “They aren’t around enough to care anyway.”

“Ah yes, my mistake.” Gakushuu sighed, “But still isn’t Kunigaoka High supposed to be elite and for the more wealthy?”

Karma scoffed, “Ugh, yeah trust me. It’s full of a bunch of pompous assholes that you don’t wanna meet. Trust me, we had to deal with em’ all the time last year.”

“Sadly I can relate.”

At Karma’s inquisitive look Gakushuu elaborated, “My mother and I have never been in the best financial state, however I managed to get into a good school due to my grades. Making me a ‘commoner’ in the eyes of my classmates.” He sighed, “Not that I have any lingering attachments to any of them.”

“Sounds a lot like the jerks at Kunigaoka then.” Karma admitted, “But think about it this way, I’ll be there!”

“Huh?”

“Oh come on Shuu~! I know you can’t resist my charms, we could be rivals! Battling it out for the top spot for the next 4 years! Doesn’t that sound waaay more fun than just dealing with more rich jackasses?”

Gakushuu sighed, resigned, “...I’ll have to ask my mother about it.”

“Then it’s settled! Can’t wait to beat you for the next 4 years!”

“You mean _I’ll_ be beating _you_.”

“We’ll see about that!”

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
It was on the last day of his stay in Kunigaoka when they finally got a break in the case. Gakuhou had called him over, Kunigaoka Junior High being the assigned meeting place.

“Follow me.”

He led Gakushuu all the way up the mountain to what he heard was the 3E classroom on the ‘old campus’, and to his (and everyone else's) surprise, all the people he had met were up there.

“Wha--”

“Principle?!?”

“Wait a sec is that--”

“Gakushuu???”

Gakuhou raised his hand, “Quiet down.” And to his amazement they did, “What I’m about to tell you concerns everyone here. Karasuma, do you have what I requested.”

Karasuma sighed, pulling out a stack of paper from his coat, “When you said you needed another copy of the 3E non disclosure agreement, I didn’t think you meant for _him_.”

“Wait what? Mr. Karasuma how do you know Gakushuu?”

“That will all be explained, but first.” Gakuhou took the forms, holding them out to Gakushuu, “Gakushuu, what you hear here cannot be spoken of to anyone else. If you agree to the terms listed, then please sign this form.”

Gakushuu read over the terms, most of them just covering the specifics of ‘don’t tell anybody’, before signing and handing it back.

“To begin, I think it would be good for Gakushuu to explain why he was here in the first place. Gakushuu, if you would.”

Stepping up to the podium, he spoke, “Roughly one month ago, a heart was donated to a hospital in Tokyo. When examined, it turned out that the heart had the peculiar ability to fit any person that could need it. Almost as if it could shapeshift. I had taken it upon myself to find out who the heart had belonged to, and in my search I ended up meeting you all. And now I was called here because I was promised answers, so.”

He stepped down, motioning for Gakuhou to take up the stand, which he did.

“As you know, the man known as Shiro was the scientist behind the anti-matter experiments that ended up creating the ‘tentacle monster’. Cells infected with anti-matter had shown a unique ability to regenerate remarkably fast, making the ‘monster’ hard to kill. However when you did kill him, where did the cells go?” 

They sat in silence for a moment, before whispers broke out.

“Wait where did they go?”

“Didn’t they disappear?”

“They just vanished along with him right?”

“Wait! They floated into the sky!”

“Correct.” Gakuhou affirmed, “After I had realised this fact, I hunted down where the cells ended up. As it turns out, some of Shiro’s men had collected what was left and was using what they salvaged to try and make the ‘perfect heart’.”

The students flinched, not wanting to think about the possibility of the experiments continuing even after the government had banned them.

“However, once it was completed they got the order to ‘get rid of it’.”

“H-HUH??”

. . .

_Gakuhou stood in front of the bed, staring down at the prone figure lying in it._

_“Why did you do it?”_

_They figure turned to him, giving him a blank stare._

_“Why did you tell them to donate it?”_

_The figure turned away looking out the window, and just as Gakuhou was about to get fed up with him, he spoke._

_“It’s what he would have wanted isn’t it?”_

_Gakuhou stopped in his tracks, “...What?”_

_“That Korosensei, he bested me.” Shiro finally turned to him, “He bested me, I’ll admit. So I decided to do with his remains something the oh so great Korosensei would approve of, and used my research for good. Just like that stupid step-sister of mine always wanted. Isn’t that good enough?”_

_He turned away then, dismissing his presence._

_Gakuhou made his way out, “...The heart went to a good kid. Korosensei would be proud.”_

_“I don’t want neither their approval nor their forgiveness.”_

_“And you don’t have it.” Gakuhou confirmed, “But, now at least you’ve done one good deed. So at least some of you isn’t wasted.”_

_He slammed the door on the way out._

. . .

“So, one of Shiro’s underlings took the anti-matter heart, and shipped it over to a random hospital that wasn’t too far away. The one I’m guessing that you are talking about, Gakushuu?”

Gakushuu nodded, “That must be the one…”

“So… This means that the heart belonged to Korosensei… That someone out there, has his legacy…” Nagisa muttered. “Someone that… may never know his story. That may see him as some sort of _villain_ …”

And just like that the mood dropped to a shuddering stop, the students of 3E so caught in their thoughts they couldn’t see the contemplative look on Gakushuu’s face.

“...If you could, I would like to hear a bit about this ‘Korosensei’.”

Bits of confusion spread throughout the mournful mood.

“Why should we tell ya? You can’t speak of this to anyone else, it’s not like the person’ll ever know!” Terasaka exclaimed.

“Ah yes, I think I should have explained my reasoning better…” Gakushuu admitted, stepping up to the podium, “Well you see, for the last year I wasn’t able to attend school.” He started, unbuttoning his shirt.

“U-uhhh, now’s not the time for a strip tease Shuu!” Karma joked.

Gakushuu raised an eyebrow and continued, “It turns out I had developed severe arrhythmia, and was estimated to have only a year left to life. But then one day, just as my time was about to expire--” He had undone the top half of his shirt now, moving it to show that his torso was covered in bandages, “an anonymous person donated a heart that was able to be a match for me.”

The class stared at the bandages, tearing up as they slowly realised what he meant.

“That’s why I decided to try and find out who this heart had belonged to. I wanted to thank him for saving my life, and I want to honor his memory.” Gakushuu rebuttoned his shirt before turning back to the class, “That’s why I would like to hear about his story. So that I may properly honor his memory.”

A girl with fading green dyed hair spoke up, “H-his name was Korosensei. He was pervy, overly enthusiastic, a-and the best teacher we ever had…”

  
_**~ ~ ~ ~ O ~ ~ ~ ~** _

  
When Gakushuu opened the door to his house he was greeted by the sight of his mother’s smiling face and a full-course meal set out on the table.

“So, who were they?” His mother asked, not doubting him for a second.

“He was a teacher.” Gakushuu began, “He was a great teacher, who took the kids stuck at the bottom and polished them to a shine. H-he brought out the best in those kinds, and was willing to put his head on the chopping block for them t-time and time again.”

“I-I got to meet his s-students.” Gakushuu admitted, “They’re my age, and they w-were so so great. I-I even became friends with them!” he was tearing up, why was he tearing up? “T-they believe I can carry out his l-legacy mom! T-they t-think I can!” 

He was sobbing as his mom buried him in a warm embrace, leaning into the touch, “C-can I really? W-would I r-really be able to honor someone like t-that?”

“Of course you can sweetie. Your new friends believe in you don’t they?” She reassured him, “ _You’ll do great!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> ah yes, finally, the end.
> 
> idk what to say honestly, but i hope that you enjoyed this mess! comments are appreciated, thank you for reading!


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